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News of the 551-day voyage of the frigate SMS Novara, which began in Trieste on April 30, 1857 and ended there after circumnavigating the world on August 26, 1859, was once longed for news. It was read in the “Wiener Zeitung” several weeks late – almost in real time at the time. The three-volume travel report was not published until 1861. Here and there you learned a lot about foreign countries and witnessed strange encounters.
If today we receive news in real time, even from the high seas, it would take significantly longer in the 19th century. In order to provide those who remained at home with information as quickly as possible, letters and messages were posted at every port and brought back home on the next ship. During the Novara voyage, the geologist traveling with us, Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829–1884), regularly wrote reports that were posted in distant ports and serialized in the "Wiener Zeitung".
On Saturday, September 19, 1857, the sixth part of the serial story "Expedition of the Imperial and Royal Frigate Novara" appeared in the evening paper of the "Wiener Zeitung". The content here was about the journey across the Atlantic. The world travelers set off from Madeira on June 17th and anchored in Rio de Janeiro on August 5th. A lull had caused a significant delay in arrival.
Hochstetter's letter from Rio to Vienna proves to be a timepiece. While the sailors needed 50 days to travel from Madeira to Rio, the letter, which was probably posted on August 5th, the day of arrival, reached Vienna in just 45 days. This means that he covered the significantly longer distance in less time.
Reading the "Wiener Zeitung" on September 19th not only informs about eleven days of calm, but also about life on board, where the on-board band that traveled with us created a positive atmosphere. "In the meantime, our music band diligently played their 'Novara-Polka', the 'Mother's Kiss in a Bleak Forest Night' - a title for a quodlibet that arose from the capellmeister's imagination on the waves of the ocean - and what the pieces are all called."
Bei der Querung des Äquators Mitte Juli gab es die obligate Äquatortaufe. This festival lasted two days. The boatswain had specially dressed up as Neptune and the entire crew had to take part. "Neptune's henchmen mercilessly dragged everyone before his throne, and anyone who did not buy themselves with silver coin was shaved and washed with streams of water."
Shortly before arrival, a rotting whale had also provided some variety, as Hochstetter briefly reported. A detailed description of the rotting whale off Rio would not follow until 1861.
The "Novara" work
The scientific results of the Novara trip appeared in a 21-volume work, the last volume of which was published in 1875. It began with a three-volume work that appeared in 1861 and 1862 under the cumbersome title "Journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth in the years 1857, 1858, 1859 under the orders of Commodore B. von Wüllersdorf-Urbair". The editor was Karl von Scherzer (1821–1903), and the illustrations were provided by Joseph Selleny (1824–1875), who accompanied the expedition as a painter. Scherzer not only relied on his own observations, but also used a variety of documents that gave a well-rounded picture of the trip.
"A visible obstacle to navigation"
In contrast to the title of the books, the text is easy to understand and is still exciting to read today, as the following passages show. "On August 1st, a rock was reported just ahead of us, in the direction we were following. Since such a rock was not marked on the nautical charts and it was also impossible to assume that a visible obstacle to navigation in these very busy waters would have previously escaped the attention of sailors, we cautiously approached the object and tried to recognize its nature through telescopes. The most opposite, strange opinions were voiced, and some even thought that it was just a huge one Albatross, although the supposed rock had the circumference of more than a hundred albatrosses."
A rotten whale
"When we finally got closer to the object, we noticed that it was a floating body, but we couldn't see it exactly. A boat was now manned, and we were soon able to find out by smell that we were dealing with a dead whale, probably already stripped and putrefying. A few large birds hovered in the air above it, while an innumerable number of sharks feasted on the carrion, and so on to say, we shot at some of them, but without achieving the desired result, and finally moved away when the foul smell became too unbearable. Some sharks followed our boat for a while, probably in the hope of finding fresher food on ourselves - but this incident taught us quite clearly how some of the rocks listed as doubtful on the nautical charts could have had a similar origin If we had not fully convinced ourselves of the true nature of the object, we would also have taken it for a rock and increased the number of question marks and doubtfuls on the charts of the Atlantic Ocean."
"Where calmness of wind bound us to this place"
Before they could go ashore in Rio, the sailors passed the time by shooting seabirds, probably less for scientific purposes and more for pastime, as the following lines suggest. "On August 3rd we finally got Cap Frio in sight and used the whole of the following day, when there was no wind, to shoot albatrosses, which had been attracted in large numbers by the fat thrown overboard from a dolphin that had been harpooned that morning and prepared for zoological purposes."
Hochstetter's collected reports as a posthumous printed work
Ferdinand von Hochstetter, the chronicler of contemporary reports, had a well-respected academic career. In 1872 he became a teacher to Crown Prince Rudolf, and from 1874 to 1875 he was rector of the Technical University in Vienna (today TU Vienna). From 1876, as director of the Natural History Museum in Vienna, he was largely responsible for its new building; However, he did not live to see its opening on August 10, 1889. A year after his death on July 18, 1884, Eduard Hölzl in Vienna published all of the reports he had published in the "Wiener Zeitung" in print. They impress with their authenticity and, as a timely written representation, represent a welcome, easy-to-read addition to Karl von Scherzer's three volumes from 1861 and 1862. (Thomas Hofmann, November 13, 2019)